Plans to house refugees arriving in the Netherlands on cruise ships have been described as “absurd” and illegal, as the Dutch government laid out its solution to overcrowded asylum centres.
Three large ships have already been commissioned and one is due to be anchored in Velsen, near IJmuiden in North Holland, although ministers are struggling to find further willing ports.
Officials are also examining how they can allow refugees free movement on and off the ships in order to avoid claims that those onboard are being illegally held captive by the state.
The move is said to be necessary due to the lack of space in refugee centres in light of the large number of Ukrainians fleeing Vladimir Putin’s war.
About 3,000 refugees could be housed on the cruise ships from September under plans agreed by the Dutch cabinet earlier this week.
Refugees have been forced to sleep on the grass outside one refugee centre in the village of Ter Apel in the north of the Netherlands due to lack of space, a situation that the government says will not be resolved for at least a fortnight.
The government has further enraged NGOs by suggesting people from Ukraine will not be put on the ships unlike refugees from elsewhere.
The council for refugees, VluchtelingenWerk, described the idea of placing asylum seekers on ships as “absurd”.
A spokesperson said: “The reception of asylum seekers is now far below standard. A cruise ship as a temporary measure is already a lot better than an average crisis emergency shelter. But it’s a different story if you let them float around at sea.
“You don’t need research to think that you can’t do that to people who have fled war and violence. You take care of refugees as a society and not from a distance at sea.”
The UN’s refugee wing, the UNHCR Netherlands, said the move was “undesirable”. “Existing traumas due to the dangerous flight may resurface for some.”
Since the war broke out on 24 February, approximately 60,000 Ukrainians have arrived in the Netherlands.
Two years ago, the Home Office in the UK contemplated housing refugees in disused ferries moored off the coast but the financial cost proved to be too high.
